• The embers were slowly dying, leaving only a soft orange glow to light the fire circle. Nira gazed into it silently. In the dimming light, a few rebellious flames caused shadows to play over her features, sending strange dancing shapes flitting over her light brown skin. In the light of the fire, the gold of her eyes seemed to glow. Even here, the night was chilly; a strange transition from the sweltering heat of day. There was a hush over the savanna and the fire circle was empty. The small village was quiet, the stillness broken only by a slight breeze and murmurings from inside the grass huts. The cry of a child who wouldn't go to sleep. The plea of a mother who just wanted to go to bed herself.
    Nira had come to the fire circle only after everyone had already gone. She reached up and pulled out the tie in her hair, letting the long black ropes cascade down her back. A terrified mouse ran past, muttering something about getting home on time. The sound of soft paw pads came up behind her. She turned her head slightly to see Taiki, now in the form of some sort of wild dog. He padded over to her and lay down at her feet. Nira absentmindedly reached out to stroke his head. After a long silence, Taiki spoke.
    “It's late, Nira. You should get some sleep.”
    “I'm fine, Taiki.” Nira replied, after a moment, in a monotone voice.
    “Please,” she could hear his weariness dragging down his words. “Please, Nira. You're not fine. You forget that I know... I can feel you drowning. Please, go to sleep.”
    “Taiki...” her voice cracked.
    “Please, Nira. Be still.” Taiki begged.
    Nira's eyes closed, her face contorting with pain.“Taiki! Stop!”
    “Nira!” He cried. “Staying up won't-”
    A footfall sounded behind them. Nira looked up to see an older woman behind her, smiling. The woman sat down next to Nira.
    “Hello, Najiira, hello, Taiki.” The woman paused for a moment. “That is Taiki, right? I never can tell with him.”
    Taiki huffed and looked away. Nira stared into the fire. It took a minute for her to register that the woman was still talking to her.
    “So, Najiira, where were you today? Where did you go? What did you do?”
    Nira looked at her blankly. The woman just chuckled.
    “Of course. Of course. My, my, Nira. For a girl who can talk to everything, you sure don't say much.” She paused for a second, running Nira over with a questioning look. “Nira... Do you know what day it is?”
    Taiki shifted, resting his head on her knee.
    “Matsvita,” Nira replied slowly. “I have no idea what you are talking about.”
    “When you were younger, my word, you talked a lot. You could talk up a storm so fast no one would have any idea what you were saying.” Matsvita went on, apparently switching back to the topic of Nira's silent nature. “You were as wild as an elephant's child. You ran with the gazelle and slept with the lions. No one could make you do anything. No one could hold you down. Of course, you still do that.” She smiled a sweet smile that made her eyes crinkle at the edges. For a moment, she rummaged in the folds of her robe. “Actually, that's wrong. There was one person that could calm you down when no one else could. Do you remember him?”
    Nira looked at the old woman, taking the fruit from her outstretched hand. “No, Matsvita. I remember no such thing.”
    “Ah, that is a shame. He was such a cute little boy.” She smiled again, patting Nira's cheek. “You know, Nira, You should really think about getting married soon. You're nineteen, well past the age of marriage. We didn't raise you to die childless.” Matsvita stood up stiffly. “It is well past sundown and everyone is sleeping. I would tell you to go to bed before the Night Things come out, but goddess knows, you would probably chat it up with them and have a grand old time.” Her round face smiled warmly down on the younger girl. “Get some sleep Najiira. Go well.”
    “Stay well, Matsvita.” Nira replied, pasting a small smile on her face. She watched the old woman walk off before returning her gaze to the fire, absentmindedly running her thumb along the palm of her right hand.
    “Nira...” Taiki spoke quietly from her knee.
    “I know, I know.” she sighed. “I'll go to bed.”

    The sun was at the highest point in the sky. It was sweltering hot and the sweat ran down Nira's back. She laughed as she crawled through the long golden grass. She could hear Taiki up ahead of her, “Hurry up, Niri!” The gold of his lion cub coat blended with his surroundings so that the only thing she could see was the brown fur at the end of his tail. Suddenly, there was a loud yelp. A human yelp. Nira,who had caught up to Taiki, looked around him to see the startled face of a young boy, about eight, she guessed, only a year older than herself. The boy had pale skin and short black hair that puffed off his head on all sides. His bright blue eyes were as round as saucers. Nira smiled at him, “Hello! Whats your name?”
    The boy's eyebrows knit together as he stuttered. “Y-you can u-understand me?”
    Nira laughed. “I can understand everything!” The boy looked at her in confusion. She went on. “My name is Najiira. But you can call me Niri! This is Taiki,” she said cheerily, motioning towards the lion, who, turning into a fox kit, rolled onto his back, wriggling around until Nira giggled and scratched his stomach.
    The boy, less nervous now that there wasn't a lion staring him in the face, smiled. “My name is Cai. It's nice to meet you.”
    Nira grinned wider, “Of course it is!” She took him by the hand and stood up. “I'll show you to my village!”
    Suddenly, Nira was on top of a large cliff with the wind in her hair, calling to Cai who was still scrambling up the steep slope. She turned to face the horizon, where the light was growing brighter by the second. Cai, now up on the rock, crouched down low near her legs, afraid of the height. They looked to the horizon intently, just in time to see the bright red sun burst over the earth, spreading its warm rays across the grassland. Nira laughed out loud, her face reaching toward the sky with her arms outstretched. Cai, who watched her with childlike admiration and wonder, laughed out loud with her as Taiki, a hawk, circled above them in the morning sun.
    Now she didn't know where she was. She was sitting across from a strange man. Wait... Those eyes... Did she know him? Her heart leaped. She reached out to take his hand, she turned it over...
    Now it was a year later. Now Nira was running. She could feel her bare feet pounding on the earth below. It was sure and solid. It felt safe, strong, just like it always had. She laughed, feeling free. She turned to see Cai running after her panting. He was getting faster now too, almost able to keep up with her. She grinned back at him before turning around to gaze at the great stone structure before her. It was made of slabs of rock, all protruding from the earth to create a huge maze of caves, crevices and hidden corridors. Light poured in through the top where the rocks didn't quite fit together, creating shafts of light. She ran towards the entrance, the rocks calling to her.
    Suddenly, Nira froze. Something was wrong. Her heart beat in her ears. She couldn't move. She couldn't breath.
    Then she felt it; Something deep within the earth cracked. It just cracked and shattered.
    The pain ricocheted throughout her body. She fell to her knees, trembling, bracing her hands on the ground. A flood of pain and agony, hopelessness and death crashed down upon her like a wave, drowning her. She coughed and gagged. Tears welled uncontrollably from her eyes as she struggled to inhale. She was going to be sick. Her muscles became tight and rigid, her fingers clawed onto the ground, creating deep cracks in the earth. The waves of pain swelled and crashed against her. Suddenly, everything became fuzzy and disconnected. She saw herself from a distance. Her shaking crumpled body lay on the ground. Cai was screaming something, but she couldn't hear. The wind picked up, whirling around her. She began to glow with an unearthly golden light. She watched herself as she sat up and opened her eyes, which in fact, were no longer eyes, but more like large pools of golden light. Rocks started to crumble away around her and large cracks spread out from her body like a spider's web. Cai covered his head, trying to keep rubble from falling on him. He tried to get near her but failed. Darkness crept over her and slowly the world disappeared. She floated as a single strand of energy woven into the infinite web of life itself. She was part of this web, and the web was slowly dieing, taking her along with it. Then she heard it. It was quiet at first, but it grew louder. “Niri! Niri, its all right. I'm here. It's all right Niri. It's all right...” The massive void began to fade as Niri came-to. She was floating just above the ground, looking out at Cai through a swirling mass of gold light that surrounded her. It all happened so fast then: Cai reached out for her, their hands met, Nira screamed. Her hand burned, but she couldn't tear it away. It felt like lightning had just struck her, and was holding onto her in its electrical current. It burned like the coldest ice and the hottest fire. Her expression was mirrored in Cai's own: wide eyed with shock and fear and pain. The pain spiraled up her arm like a snake, coiling itself around her heart, squeezing it, flooding her body until she felt that she was surely burning inside. A sharp, stabbing pain ricocheted through her hand. Blood dripped to the ground between them. She didn't know whose blood it was. Then, as suddenly as it had all started, it stopped. The light disappeared, the burning subsided, and Niri fell to the ground. She gazed across at Cai who was staring at his bloody mess of a hand. Cut deep into the palm was the shape of a crescent moon. “I-I'm s-sorry,” she whispered. Suddenly, her eyes began to go in and out of focus. She swayed forward. Cai caught her, holding her to him. She could feel him shivering against her and she knew that he was crying. Over his shoulder she opened her own hand. Large, deep gashes gushed blood, creating an image not unlike Cai's. A bloody red sun stared back at her. She watched as the blood dripped off her hand and pooled on the ground. She shuddered, she burying her head into Cai's shoulder to muffle her sobs.
    The scene changed, for one last time. It was morning. Matsvita stood over Nira's sleeping pallet, a concerned look on her face. She was saying something. It took a couple seconds for the words to fall into order as Nira woke from sleep.
    “Niri, Cai is gone.”
    Everything shattered.